Checking out of our AirBnB apartment in Santiago we hailed a taxi to the bus station where we would be boarding an Andersmar coach to Mendoza, Argentina. The taxi driver was very chatty, and we realised that we had picked up enough Spanish to be able to understand him. We had a short wait at…

Following Dads trip to Rapa Nui while Mum had issues with the kids in Santiago we felt we needed a short break and had our minds set on a trip to Valparaiso. Since we had the AirBnB apartment in Santiago we could travel light. The plan was to take the short coach ride then stay…

We agreed that while Dad went to Rapa Nui for four nights, Mum would look after the kids in Santiago. We had been to Chile’s capital city before and knew it well enough to plan an AirBnB apartment in an area close to a park and with a supermarket close by. Since the kids loved…

Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island, had been on Dad’s wish-list for a long time. There was something about the mysterious statue heads on the remote Pacific Island and the mystery that surrounds them that continued to be a big draw long after he had heard a fellow traveller talk about it back in…

As we left Valdivia on the coach for our next destination, Pucón, we were excited. Situated on the banks of Lake Villarrica, Pucón is a tourist town in the Chilean Lake District overlooked by the impressive Villarrica volcano. In fact, Pucón was the first place we had been to where there were volcano evacuation signs…

Our coach picked us up on time in Puerto Varas and we were soon on our way to the university town of Valdivia. In 1960 Valdivia was hit by a huge earthquake (the strongest recorded earthquake in history) so we were hoping there would be no repeat in history whilst we were there. It took…

A bus took us from the Navimag ferry to Puerto Montt bus station. We needed to get a bus to Puerto Varas where we would be staying for six nights. The bus station was easily navigated and we were pointed to a minibus heading to our destination. We shared the ride with a Dutch girl…

After our short visit to El Chalten to view the Mount Fitzroy range we had to get back to Puerto Natales to travel to the Chilean lake district through the Patagonian fjords on the Navimag Ferry. Leaving in the early afternoon we made our way back to El Calafate where we would stay one night…

Our taxi picked us up from the AirBnB apartment in El Calafate and took us to the bus terminal for our onward journey to El Chalten. Three hours on the coach, including a toilet stop, and we arrived at our destination. Before the journey ended at the bus terminal we all had a briefing from…

It was time to leave Puerto Natales and cross the border into Argentina to El Calafate. Excited to see the Perito Moreno glacier, we donned our backpacks and took the short walk to the bus station for our coach. The border formalities were swift. After receiving our exit stamp from Chile the bus drove a…